RP: Cirrus Station [Episode 8] That Sinking Feeling

Kokuten straightened in his chair, unable to find a comfortable position. With that, he sighed, and settled for leaning with one hand on his knee, his elbow resting over the other in an oddly angled position. His heel bounced up and down idly as his mind scratched at him with hunger. Perhaps it was the hunger, he thought, that prevented him from staying still.

Cassefin leaned back into her seat and drew in a peaceful breath. "What did you all think you were doing? Some secret agent mumbo-jumbo?" She chided, smirking at her own sarcasm.

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The Captain's heel stopped moving, the Head Administrator's statement providing a distracting revelation from the munchies.

"No, but I do think we were doing something well beyond keeping order on a research station. Tell me, oh fair and wise Montreal, how do you intend to reward such vassals who so wordlessly threw themselves in front of gunfire to save people of questionable reputation?" said Kokuten, his tone slightly hinting of the mocking variety. He gestured to the rest of people sitting in the craft with them, "Don't you think they deserve something? Something that befits such unquestioning resolve?"

Dragonnova said:

Claire was simply not listening to the conversation around her. Her mind seemed to have retreated back into her own little world and was starting to mumble things as if dreaming. To further the impression of sleeping, when Tweak sat her down, she leaned back towards her and slid along their seats until her head came to rest on Tweak's armored shoulder. The comlink between herself and Tweak was still on and a couple things she murmured could barely be heard, "...Mnf.. not so loud, kitten... he might hear you and come back..."

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Tweak's eyelid twitched behind her visor at what she heard over the comm as she cut the channel. Claire probably wouldn't want something like that broadcasting...

Resting her head on her teammate's shoulder was probably not the most comfortable position for Claire but, for her part, Tweak left her where she lay. The time between the conflict and now had exceeded an hour, but even Tweak wasn't recovered from the ordeal and likely wouldn't be for a while. The 'Spacer neko quietly listened to the exchange between Cassefin and Kokuten, still a bit shell-shocked to object or interject anything useful.

Cassefin's lips pursed together at Kokuten's suggestion. "What? Reward? I pay you to do things like this. It was necessary to secure the safety of Administrator Popjoy and I," the woman retaliated indignantly. "You don't reward a carpenter for building a chair, it's his job."

"Well... they did a really great job..." Purina added her own two cents across the room, idly glancing at the inside of her container. From the looks of it, whatever was living inside the brown mulchy confines was well hidden; perhaps this was the reason why Purina couldn't seem to take her eyes off of it, lest the beast inside make a sudden appearance. "They should get some sort of reward for the effort they put in... don't you think?" Purina asked sheepishly, her tone wavering a bit as she noticed Cassefin glaring burning daggers at the pink-haired pretty. Purina smiled weakly and looked back down at her terrarium.

"Mmm..." went Kokuten, his eyes turning a dark forest green and inspecting his employer thoroughly. "From what I understand, the carpenter is paid to build his chairs. He's rewarded when he does much more than what he is normally paid to do. Or... At least, something that he wasn't told he was being paid to do."

The Captain crossed his arms and looked over at Purina and gave her a gentle smile for her assistance, "I did not request reward for assisting Administrator Popjoy, as that is our duty." One of Kokuten's eyes turned to look at Cassefin again, before being joined by the other. "However, considering the amount of foresight you seemed to have in the situation, we could have saved her the trauma of such a event if you had at least allowed one or two of the squad to accompany her."

An orange tint settled over Kokuten's green LED's, "At any rate, I must find how we did our assigned task at all, Administrator Montreal. At the first sign of trouble, you sent us out away from you in a way we could not be absolutely sure of your safety. Of course, we rescued Administrator Popjoy, but from what I remember, such a thing was of a low-priority."

The tint settled over and the orange became the base color of his eyes. He leaned over his knee again, keeping his eyes on the Head Administrator. "Head Administrator, with all due respect, we are paid to protect the personnel of the Cirrus Station and preserve order, not to be your personal military. "

"Oh my gosh, fine," Cassefin relented in exasperation, groaning and shaking her head in annoyance as Kokuten spat reasonable truth directly in her face. "If you're just gonna whine and complain all night," the Head Administrator droned on, idly rubbing the back of her neck. "I guess I could give you all some time off. Squad 101 got some time planetside for their effort in dealing with those little pests that keep getting out of Purina's holding cells," Cassefin shot another glance towards Purina. "The Cirrus will be staying in orbit for another few days anyway to resupply."

Purina smiled sheepishly as Cassefin tossed another glare her way. The pink-haired scientist did often have a problem with escaping subjects... Purina had a particularly troublesome problem of letting the more docile specimens run free in the larger lab environments, much to the chagrin of both assistant and security detail in the area. "I think that's a wonderful idea," Purina added in, hoping to change the subject away from the awful ordeals she had put several squads through. "I've heard Leon City is a wonderful place; that's where Captain Willard took the 101's."

"I did stay behind to protect her." Serra said, "and when she was surprised by people trying to open the elevator door, which might have either been Mr Abeck, or the law enforcement officers, she pulled the emergency break's line and she nearly got herself killed when the thing went into freefall." Serra eyed the administrator for a second. She blinked when she realized she only mentioned Cassifin. "I had my wings extended. I was free floating."

"Well, that does sound very good!" said Kokuten in delight, his eyes flashing back to their green color. He rubbed his chin, thinking on such a freedom. A day without the eyes of their all-seeing Montreal staring upon them? This meant they could do whatever they wanted and Cassefin would never know!

Finally, he could smoke.

"I did stay behind to protect her." Serra said, "and when she was surprised by people trying to open the elevator door, which might have either been Mr Abeck, or the law enforcement officers, she pulled the emergency break's line and she nearly got herself killed when the thing went into freefall." Serra eyed the administrator for a second. She blinked when she realized she only mentioned Cassefin. "I had my wings extended. I was free floating."

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"Mm..." humphed the Captain disapprovingly, both eyes now on Serra now, before turning one in Cassefin's direction. "Don't you think such reckless endangerment warrants a little hazard pay, Administrator? In the very least, for Ms. Evangelle."